Bloody Petunias
by Hufflepuff Ninja
Summary: Many years ago, an unexpected visitor to Halloween Town became little Jack Skellington's first friend and taught him something he would never forget. Rating might change later, and I suck at summaries. Just take a look and review. Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: So here we go, my first fanfiction in a while. I've got a new obsession, The Nightmare Before Christmas, let's see how long it lasts. Anyway, this story does have some semblance of a plot, though due to my rather unpredictable schedule and general flakiness, I might not go through with it, so I'm not making it too epic. This fanfiction is mostly to try out a new character and fool around with the movie, hopefully without mangling it too much. Enjoy! Oh, and by the way, I don't own TNBC because life is evil. About the title…don't ask, because I have no idea where it came from. It just popped into my brain when I was going "Oh crap, I forgot about the title!"_

**Bloody Petunias**

The full moon shone brightly in the dark October sky over Halloween Town. A cool breeze swept through the town square, its serenity contrasting dramatically with the ruckus quickly forming on the ancient cobblestones. A twisted menagerie of ghouls and ghosts, of vampires and werewolves, of all manner of things that go bump in the night undulated in stunned perplexity around a single ragged shape like a coiled snake with indigestion. It was what seemed to be a small white face emerging from a sizable pile of rags. It looked like a boy in his mid to late teens, with a matted mop of filthy golden-brown hair and strange, wide, silver-tinged brown eyes. The rest of him was so buried in rags that it was nearly impossible to tell if he was fat or thin. The citizens of Halloween Town were dumbfounded. Nobody from the outside world had ever walked straight through the wrought-iron gates and into the very heart of the town like this before. A single person stepped forward, an odd, cone-shaped ghoul with two faces, one rosy and cheerful, the other pale and upset looking, though the latter was dormant at the moment.

"What is your business here, boy?" he asked, just as confused as the others, but trying to maintain his air of leadership as the mayor. The boy turned to face him. Those strange-colored eyes showed no fear, but a haunted sadness that made him look far older than sixteen or seventeen.

"I seek citizenship in your town, sir." His voice was quiet, with a slight but not unpleasant rasp. The mayor's face switched to its upset side momentarily, then back again.

"What is your name?" he replied, smiling warmly.

"Jeremiah Sangboire." He responded, unmoved by the mayor's friendliness.

"Sangboire? Doesn't that mean 'blood drinker' in French?" a tall, willowy vampire called out from the throng. Separating himself from the others, the vampire drifted toward the newcomer. He put a pale, chilly hand where he guessed the boy's shoulder might be. Jeremiah stiffened and stepped away, distrust flickering briefly in those bizarre eyes. The taller one smiled faintly and bent down to Jeremiah's level.

"Let me see you open your mouth, boy, I won't hurt you," He said in as soothing a tone as he could manage. Jeremiah frowned for a moment, then obliged sure enough, there were two fangs in the place of human canines. The other vampire smiled, glad that he had guessed correctly. He asked one more question.

"When were you turned, child?" he inquired.

"Nineteen fourty-two," Jeremiah responded coldly. The taller vampire gasped softly.

"Oh! Bud you are little more than a fledgeling! Our coven will accept you with open arms. Come, cast off those ridiculous rags, child!" the elder mate to remove them, but Jeremiah flinched away and took them off himself, rather embarrassed and leaving his entire torso bare. The audience gasped in shock, a few of the motherly monsters let out moans of pity. The young vampire was utterly emaciated, only the reanimated skeletons were marginally thinner. On top of that, his back was unbelievably mangled. Vulgar words were burned into the skin, there were still-open stab wounds between the fragile ribs. Tattered strips of dead flesh dangled from the arrow-sharp shoulder blades, the vertebrae like tiny daggers. Whip marks laced his skin on both his front and back. Jeremiah scowled defiantly, attempting to shrug off all this sudden pity by putting up a fortress of feigned toughness. Realizing that now was the time to disappear into the shadows, the older vampire led him away as discreetly as possible. Out from between the legs of his parents, the six year old Jack Skellington watched curiously. Had he perhaps, for the first time, a chance to make a friend?


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note: Here's the second chapter, I don't know how long this active streak is going to last, but I might as well take advantage of it. The story's gotten a fair amount of views (I obsessively check the story traffic when I put out a new story) but I would just love it if you could review. I live for reviews! Don't be shy, tell me what you think! Favoriting and such is all well and good, but reviews make the world go round. Oh, and I don't own the Nightmare Before Christmas._

**Chapter Two**

A couple nights had passed since the incident of the newcomer, and Jack hadn't seen his potential best friend anywhere until now. Unfortunately, it was bedtime, and sneaking out was not going to happen. Or at least, that's what Jack's parents thought. After a lengthy battle in which little Jack was wrestled into pajamas, wrangled into bed, and locked into his room, he waited until the creaking of the floorboards under his parents' feet had faded away before he scrambled out of the covers. He opened the window slightly and slipped out. He was a natural creeper, though he hadn't had much reason to use it until now. With some difficulty, he made it onto the roof and there, plain as the moon, was Jeremiah, looking out at something far in the distance, or maybe not there at all.

"Hi there!" Jack whispered. It seemed to take the older boy quite by surprise, and he almost fell off the roof, regaining his balance at the last second. He had changed quite a bit since he had first arrived in the town. He wore the long black cloak the other vampires wore, and his hair was now clean and neatly combed, which somehow made his eyes look wider and more perpetually surprised, if at all possible. Jeremiah glanced at the strange little creature that had sat next to him and smiled awkwardly.

"Uh, hello, mister…?" He trailed off, obviously searching for Jack's name.

"Jack Skellington!" The young Pumpkin Prince crowed, and stuck out a hand to shake. Jeremiah glanced at the skeletal hand and up at young Jack's face. The vampire pursed his lips and shook his head slightly, burying his hands deeper in the ridiculously oversized cloak.

"Sorry, kid, not today." He muttered just barely loud enough to hear. Jack looked devastated, and Jeremiah panicked "Oh, no, kid. Jack. It's not that I don't like you, it's just…just…Shouldn't you be in bed, anyways?" the vampire tried desperately to change the subject. Jack pouted.

"Shouldn't you?" the skeleton retorted. The vampire smiled at Jack's little show of ignorance.

"I'm nocturnal," he explained.

"Noctu-wha?" Jack said, confused by this new word.

"Nocturnal. I sleep all day and come out at night."

"Luckyyyy!" Jack said in that strange, childlike, blissfull, envious tone. "I wish _I_ could stay up all night!"

"Well, I wish I could go out during the day without being burned to a crisp." Jeremiah said, half-jokingly. Smiling widely.

"You burn up? Cooool!" Jack said as he leaned forward, intrigued.

"Nuh-uh. Not cool, warm. Very warm." Jeremiah replied, edging away from Jack as he came closer. Jack giggled.

"Are you scared of me? I'm the scariest kid around, watch!" Jack contorted his face into an intimidating scowl and roared loudly. Though it was absolutely terrifying to his peers, it seemed comic to the vampire, who had seen much scarier things than that. Jeremiah chuckled.

"Get to bed, you little rascal. I'll meet you in town square tomorrow night just after sunset" he mock-chided, giving Jack a little half-push after a bit of hesitation. Jack yawned widely, trying desperately to conceal it.

"But I'm not tired…" he said, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Yes you are. Bed. Now" Jeremiah said, smiling. Jack shook his skull in defiance. The vampire laughed and scooped the skeleton up in his arms, ignoring the groggy and muffled protests. He jumped down and just barely landed on the narrow windowsill. The vampire opened the window wider and slid into the room with almost as much grace as Jack had used getting out. He laid the already-asleep skeleton boy on the bed and put the covers over Jack. Jeremiah exited by window, and, with one last glance over his shoulder at the sweet little kid, disappeared into the night.

-end chapter two-


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